Softball Headline

Thursday April 4, 2013No. 3 Gators Welcome Mississippi State Bulldogs for Three-Game Set April 5-7

Following a 2-1 non-conference victory
against in-state opponent UCF Wednesday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in
Gainesville, the No. 3 Gator softball squad will swing back into conference
play with a three-game series against Mississippi State April 5-7 to continue a
five-game home stand for the Gators.

The Orange and Blue (36-3, 10-2 SEC) ride a
10-game win streak, the second longest in the SEC, into the weekend series
against the Bulldogs (23-12, 2-7 SEC). The Gators will look to junior captain
and two-time reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales,
Fla.) to lead the way through the weekend set. UF holds the series edge 26-17
over MSU, including a 14-7 advantage at home in Gainesville. Florida has won
the past 14 straight in the history of the series.

The Gators were 2-0 against Mississippi State
last season, as the two squads opened 2012 league play with a mid-week doubleheader
in Starkville March 7. Sophomore Jessica Damico (Gray Summit, Mo.)
knocked a RBI triple in the top of the fifth for the Gators to account for UF’s
lone run in a 1-0 victory in game one. In the second game of the twin bill in
2012, Florida put up 10 hits overall and scattered four runs in the first, two
in the second and two in the sixth to top MSU, 8-5, for the doubleheader sweep.

Rogers has been on fire in the circle for UF,
having allowed just four earned runs in her last 46.0 innings pitched. The
righty leads UF with a 1.11 ERA and is 21-2 in the circle.

Florida, No. 2 in this week’s softball RPI rankings
released Monday, owns a .923 win-loss percentage, second in the country. The
Gators checked in sixth in fielding percentage (.979), sixth in scoring (7.10),
eighth in ERA (1.52), homers per game and stolen bases per game entering the
week. Florida boasts a .523 slugging percentage, 10th in the nation, while the
Gators’ 0.33 triples per game are 12th overall in the country.

Freshman Kelsey Stewart (Wichita,
Kan.) ranks first in the NCAA in triples this season, with seven, having
already eclipsed the UF single-season school-record five two weeks ago against
Arkansas. Stewart also swipes 0.72 bases per game, 16th most in the country.

Rogers ranks fourth in the country with her 21
wins in the circle (21-2), ninth with six shutouts and checks in 12th in ERA
(1.11), while sophomore Lauren Haeger’s (Peoria, Ariz.) 12 long balls
this season place her 16th in the country.

The No. 3 Gators improved to 36-3 overall,
10-2 in SEC play over the last week, including an extra-innings walk-off win
against Sunshine State opponent FSU last Wednesday before securing a series
sweep at Ole Miss last weekend. The Gators added a 36th victory with a 2-1 win
over in-state opponent UCF just Wednesday evening. Florida is 6-2 against the
top 25, added its 13th come-from-behind and fifth walk-off win of the year with
Bri Little’s grand
slam against FSU in eight innings last week. The Gators are now 4-2 in
extra innings in 2013, have smashed eight grand slams this season, including
two last week, own 10 mercy-rule wins and 14 shutouts. Florida’s sweep over Ole
Miss made it four SEC series wins, two by sweep – Arkansas and Ole Miss. The
Gators were lead by captain and SEC Pitcher of the Week in Rogers, who has
allowed just four earned runs in her last 46.0 innings pitched. Rogers’ four
wins last week made her 21-2 overall on the season, ranking first in the SEC
overall in wins (21) and second in ERA (1.11), as the righty checks in first in
the conference through league play in ERA (0.84), saves (2) and wins (7).

FLORIDA | MISSISSIPPI STATE
STATISTICALLY

UF

Category

MSU

36-3

Record

23-12

10-2

Conference Record

2-7

.282

Batting Average

.272

998

At Bats

902

277

Runs

157

281

Hits

245

59

Doubles

43

13

Triples

3

52

Home Runs

32

238

Runs Batted In

143

.523

Slugging Percentage

.432

86-95

Stolen Bases/Attempts

72-96

206

Walks

126

250

Strikeouts

214

.425

On-Base Percentage

.369

1.52

Team ERA

2.16

6.58

Opponent ERA

3.69

3

Saves

5

95

Walks

57

266

Strikeouts

328

.200

Batting Average Against

.178

23

Errors

33

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE

The Mississippi State Bulldogs enter the
weekend set with the Gators at 23-12 overall on the season and 2-7 overall in
Southeastern Conference play so far in 2013. MSU is coming off wins Tuesday and
Wednesday against Jackson State and UAB, respectively. The Bulldogs used a
one-hit shutout from freshman Jacey Punches to blank Jackson State, 2-0,
Tuesday before topping UAB, 3-2, Wednesday thanks to a senior Jessica Cooley
two-run homer in the fifth. Mississippi State has taken conference victories
from LSU and Auburn so far in league play, topping the LSU Tigers 2-1 March 9
and taking the series finale against the Auburn Tigers March 20, 4-3.

Sam Lenahan is pacing MSU at the plate with a
.367 clip (33-90), with 11 doubles, a triple, nine homers and 32 RBI. Not far
behind, Logan Foulks boasts a .364 clip with eight doubles, a team-high 10 long
balls and 27 RBI. Mississippi State has three Bulldogs with double-digit stolen
bases, with Loryn Nichols a perfect 14-14 on the base paths, while Jessica
Offutt (10-16) and Kayla Winkfield (10-14) have 10 each. As a team, the Bulldogs
are batting .272, slugging at .423, have a .369 on-base mark and .963 fielding
percentage.

Alison Owen (12-5, 1.54 ERA) has tossed a
bulk of the innings in the circle for MSU (122.2) and has a squad-best 172 Ks.
Jacey Punches (3-0) has a team-low 1.37 ERA with 19 Ks in 15.1 IP, while
Stephanie Becker (6-5, 3.12 ERA) has 108 Ks through 80.2 IP for the Bulldogs.

FLORIDA | MISSISSIPPI STATE SERIES HISTORY

Florida leads, 26-17

Gators
at HOME:
14-7 | AWAY: 12-7 | Neutral: 0-3

The Gators were 2-0 vs. the Bulldogs in
2012 | UF enters the series with a 14-game win streak over the Bulldogs

4/26/97

Starkville,
Miss.

W

3-1

4/26/97

Starkville,
Miss.

L

6-5

3/11/98

Gainesville,
Fla.

L

3-1

3/11/98

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

1-0

5/9/98

Columbus,
Ga.

L

1-0

5/10/98

Columbus,
Ga.

L

1-0

4/30/99

Starkville,
Miss.

W

7-4 (9)

4/30/99

Starkville,
Miss.

L

6-2

4/28/00

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

11-3 (5)

4/28/00

Gainesville,
Fla.

L

3-1

3/14/01

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

6-0

3/14/01

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

5-4

3/15/01

Gainesville,
Fla.

L

5-1

5/10/01

Chattanooga, Tenn.

L

1-0

5/4/02

Starkville,
Miss.

L

4-1

5/4/02

Starkville,
Miss.

L

6-2

5/5/02

Starkville,
Miss.

L

8-2

4/26/03

Gainesville,
Fla.

L

11-8

4/26/03

Gainesville,
Fla.

L

7-3

4/27/03

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

6-1

4/24/04

Starkville,
Miss.

L

7-4

4/24/04

Starkville,
Miss.

L

9-5

4/23/05

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

4-0

4/23/05

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

12-4 (5)

4/24/05

Gainesville,
Fla.

L

3-0

4/1/06

Starkville,
Miss.

W

7-1

4/1/06

Starkville,
Miss.

W

2-0

4/2/06

Starkville,
Miss.

W

2-1

4/27/07

Gainesville,
Fla.

L

4-3

4/27/07

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

2-1

4/28/07

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

3-2 (9)

4/5/08

Starkville,
Miss.

W

5-0

4/5/08

Starkville,
Miss.

W

7-2

4/6/08

Starkville,
Miss.

W

5-0

4/4/09

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

11-2 (5)

4/4/09

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

6-2

4/5/09

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

3-0

5/1/10

Starkville,
Miss.

W

8-0 (5)

5/1/10

Starkville,
Miss.

W

9-1 (5)

3/16/11

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

8-0 (5)

3/16/11

Gainesville,
Fla.

W

18-1 (5)

3/7/12

Starkville,
Miss.

W

1-0

3/7/12

Starkville,
Miss.

W

8-5

NEXT UP

Florida will wrap up a five-game home stand
Wednesday by playing host to in-state opponent USF April 10 for the second
mid-week contest between the two squads this season, with first pitch slated
for 6 p.m. from KSP. The Gators defeated the Bulls, 3-1, in Tampa on Feb. 27,
thanks to a freshman Kirsti Merritt game-tying single before sophomore Lauren
Haeger knocked a game-winning two-run homer to give UF a 3-1 win. The Orange
and Blue will then hit the road for a three-game SEC series at Kentucky April
12-14.

For live updates, box scores, stats, pictures
and recaps throughout the season, be sure to visit UF on GatorZone, follow the
Gators on Twitterand visit
the team on Facebook for all
the latest on Gator softball. For broadcast and television information, visit
the UF
softball schedule page.